The Golden Ass

A dangerous interest in magic transforms a young man into a donkey and sends him on a wild journey in this ancient work of fantasy adventure.

The Golden Ass tells the story of Lucius, a hapless young fool recklessly fascinated with witchcraft. It is this obsession that leads him to be changed into a donkey and passed from owner to owner in a series of adventures. Follow along as he meets abusive robbers, poor merchants, a Roman soldier, an amorous noblewoman, a sadistic miller who works his slaves and livestock to death, and even the goddess Isis herself . . .

The only ancient work of fiction written in Latin to survive in its entirety, this novel inspired and influenced writers for centuries like Machiavelli, Boccaccio, Shakespeare, and Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, author of Beauty and the Beast.